Pasco agrees to postpone step increases

With just one day to go before their step increases took effect, Pasco's teachers and school-related employees agreed to delay the annual raises by at least a month.

The deal to hold off on the payments and suspend talks about them until July 31 came in a 30-minute special negotiating session. It sounded an awful lot like what the United School Employees of Pasco had proposed last week, but the district rejected.

This time around, though, the district's representatives asked for the agreement.

They said the district - which has called for freezing the steps - does not want to have the pay increases considered separately from all the other financial considerations including health insurance that play a role in the final compensation package.

"We just need time and information," employee relations director Terry Rhum told the Gradebook during a break.

USEP president Lynne Webb agreed during the session and again afterward. "We're just saying let's take one month and look at some facts and figures and then let's talk about it," Webb told the Gradebook. "I was glad after more dialog maybe they realized there was a middle ground and they sought a way to get to it."

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Gradebook features education articles and insights on schools in Florida, focusing on Tampa Bay area schools. What's the latest from the Florida Department of Education? How is the FCAT being used to compare Florida schools? What's going on in Tampa Bay schools? Get an insider's view from the Times education reporting team.